Charlie Parker Played Be Bop - Hardcover

Raschka, Chris

4.03

780 ratings by Goodreads

9780439578233: Charlie Parker Played Be Bop

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 043957823X ISBN 13: 9780439578233

Publisher: Orchard, 2004

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The beloved best-seller by award-winning illustrator Chris Raschka, author and illustrator of YO! YES?, is now in board book format for young children.

Ever hear of Charlie Parker? The great jazz saxophone player? If you have or if you haven't, it's okay. Look at this board book and you'll hear Charlie Parker; you'll hear music in your mind.
"Be bop. Fisk, fisk. Lollipop. Boomba, boomba."
Look. That's Charlie swinging and spinning all over the pages. And that's Charlie's cat, waiting, waiting for him to come home....

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Review:

It would seem a riddle worthy of the sphinx: how do you give children a sense of jazz music without playing a note? Chris Raschka answers loudly and clearly with the illustrated, syncopated Charlie Parker Played Be Bop. This sparse, rhythmic, repetitive text (inspired by a recording of Parker's "A Night in Tunisia") embraces and reflects the sound and feel of jazz when read aloud: "Charlie Parker played be bop. / Charlie Parker played saxophone. / The music sounded like be bop. / Never leave your cat alone." Whether in complete phrases or in nonsense refrains that taste like music in your mouth ("Alphabet alphabet, alphabet, alph, / Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee, chick, / Overshoes, overshoes, overshoes, o, / Reeti-footi, reeti-footi, reeti-footi, ree."), Raschka brings melody to the page, and rhythm to eager ears.

Raschka, whose Yo! Yes? won a Caldecott Honor, and whose Mysterious Thelonious--another ebullient, musical exploration of a jazz legend--was named a 1997 ALA Notable Book, proves once again that he is just as at home with a paintbrush as he is with a pen. His bold, quirky illustrations add movement and light to the words, buoying their already lyrical effect. Charlie Parker Played Be Bop is a colorful, whimsical romp through the world of jazz, sure to set young and old toes a-tapping. (Ages 4 to 8) --Brangien Davis

About the Author:

For Chris Raschka, the first step in his creative process is thinking about his audience - a single imaginary child who is a blend of myself, the students in my wife's classroom - and the students from two classrooms I visit regularly." Raschka, a Caldecott Medalist for The Hello, Goodbye Window and a Caldecott Honoree for Yo! Yes?, draws from any number of images or events - a poem, personal experience, or childhood recollection. He then pulls these ideas into book form. Once the story's complete, he shows it to his audience to gauge their reaction. "And then I may make some changes," he concedes. Raschka lives with his wife and son in New York City. For more information about Chris Raschka, visit: scholastic.com/tradebooks

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